Karaoke.

I’d be somewhat surprised (and moderately disappointed) if the same people who worked on this one did the boring-ass OP. Sure, the ED practically scripted itself, but nuance is a lot of effort to bother with.

Typesetting.

GJM-eraser did a damn solid job with the majority of the typesetting here. It blends in, yet still serves to express what’s important.

Quality typesetting elsewhere makes the lack of TS in these two more acceptable, as GJM-eraser opts to let the dialogue detail the signs. “It’s a style choice!” is an excuse that’s much easier to believe here.

This is the only clear miss of the episode, as English viewers will be left wondering what the exact point of the scene was. Turns out, Hinazuki’s clothes being thrown out by her mother is an important plot piece. Who’da thunk it?

Release.

Released version.

What it would look like if they knew how to use Aegi.

While I love the font used (it stands out like jizz under a black light), when dialogue is displayed at the top, longer letters drag noticeably into the visuals. Easily fixed by moving the top line up a few six pixels, I’m left to assume the primary reason for the line placement is a blind QC.

Generally no worse than adequate, GJM-eraser provides solid dialogue.

If you squint really hard, this totes qualifies as adequate.

Note that I’m covering my praise with the “generally” out of necessity, as sometimes the editor is reminded he was never loved as a child and takes it upon himself to interrupt scenes with a desperate cry for attention.

If memes & pop culture references have a place anywhere, it’s not in a tryhard pseudo-mystery like Erased. For anyone who legitimately wants to be drawn into the show, you’re going to have to balance out how many “look at me”s you’re willing to endure in what is an otherwise solid release. For any literates in the audience, I’m going to assume that bar is quite low.

I only wish fansubs didn’t constantly require asterisks beside each point of praise. ;_;

tl;dr.

In spite of their natural idiocy, GJM-eraser has a fine product here with their Erased release. I’d peg it around a B+ if I were inclined to spend a whole review on it. But I’m not, so onto the next competitor!

Karaoke.

As you should all be aware by now, officialsubs can’t into song translations.

Typesetting.

Better than Funi.

Release.

in.

I wouldn’t expect to hear this from my grandpa, let alone a fucking kid.

This line is to English as the quesalupa is to cheesy doritos gordita crunches.

…I don’t think that comparison works the way I originally thought it did, but I’m keeping the words cuz the world needs to know the quesalupa sucks.

Tryhard grammar’s all well and good, but if you read this line straight out it’d be different from how it’s supposed to be said. Drop the comma here between “oh” and “well”.

This doesn’t make much sense.

Why not try a unique and secret D_S-original, no-sketchy-stuff-but-we’ll-share-a-wink translation?

“We’ll all still be in the same class in sixth grade, so take it slow and steady.”

Damn, am I good at fansubbing, huh?

Usually I’m against translating something like “yokai”/”youkai” in Nipponese media because the context benefits from — or even necessitates — the original term’s use. Here, you don’t have any context for what he’s saying if you don’t already know what the fuck a yokai is.

If the TL really wanted to keep it in Japanese, the line shoulda been something like “What a yokai.” where it allows people to at least somewhat infer what’s being said, and gives them an impetus to learn more about the word. But yeah, don’t think I’d be a fan even then.

tl;dr.

Missing out on the flavor and polish of GJM-eraser (or Commie, but we’ll get to them next), this is still a competent result from an official release. Assuming you can’t wait to watch this shit show, and don’t mind raising your eyebrows at a few questionably translated lines, this is definitely a valid option to go for.

Now… that was just my perspective. From a Japanese accuracy standpoint, while I feel this release generally matched the other two in what was being conveyed, GJM’s leader, Fyurie, had some choice comments:

<&Dark_Sage> Surprisingly… competent for an officialsub too. Your release was better but I sure didn’t hate it.
<@Fyurie> on the english side, sure why not
<@Fyurie> the Japanese is atrocious though
<&Dark_Sage> rip
<@Fyurie> good ol’ aniplex fired all their good TLs a year ago it seems
<@Fyurie> now what we’re left with are people who probably speak it at a grade-school level
<@Fyurie> literally worse than what people think fansub TLs are
<@Fyurie> at this point, as a sub group, it’s easier to do an original translation of an aniplex work than to try and correct it, in general
<@Fyurie> though not to the same point as Funi, at least

Maybe y’all can hassle him for a TL review? I mean, he’s technically staff… (Oh shit, conflict of interest alert!)

Karaoke.

It’s been a while, but Commie put something out that I enjoyed, and I’m not just talking about the visuals. Reminds me of the days when those kids used to be tolerable instead of the stalky little creepfucks they turned into~

Commie’s working well within the parameters they set. And while this means they can never truly innovate, much like their OP, this is good for what it is.

Always nice to see something worth a modicum of respect come from the husk of what they used to be when they were just gg’s sniveling little fanboys.

Typesetting.

Credit where it’s due, this is good TS. Almost feels like the kinda shit a younger herkz would be capable of.

Release.

Not a good save, guys. In fact, you just made the original line worse. ._.

GJM-eraser: “Is your mother that important to you?”

HorribleSubs: “Is your mother that precious to you?”

Guess which of the three used Google Translate.

Now for the biggest problem I had: the script reads like it was written by someone who’s not allowed near real kids, and so has to pull dialogue from the few 90’s movies his parole officer allows him.

Disorienting, awkward, and frequently infuriating, parts read like the literate’s version of a bad trip. At base, this script could have really been something special — there was so much fucking opportunity there to fix the lines.

Yet with inadequate editing, and some lines that read like they were translated by using vlookups on online dictionaries, this script is not going to save Commie from the bloated carcass of failure it’s become. (Though I’ll give them that they tried!)

tl;dr.

Visually, Commie had the best release of Erased. But when it comes to the script? It’s still watchable, but damn does the failure hurt to watch. Why couldn’t they put someone as famous and beloved as Xythar on it? Surely he’s improved in the years since he stopped listening to editing advice!

“But which of these cursed voices should I listen to?”

GJM-eraser is probably your safest bet here, which shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with GJM’s prior works. Despite the introduction of some attention whoring lines, the smoother dialogue and quality visuals make it an arguable improvement over the official subs.

Still, if you’ve already chosen to watch Erased with Commie or HorribleSubs, and haven’t noticed any particular issues, you’re honestly fine with staying course till the end of the show. All three releases are definitely passable.

Getting DDoS’d 24/7 for months on end must really hurt, those poor guys. Hey, here’s an idea: maybe it’s time to stop leeching off others and pay their own way forward? I mean, the donations they’ve pathetically begged for are purportedly going somewhere, right?